Discovering Dante & the Tool of Narration

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Hell. What do you think of when you hear the word "Hell?" A place full of gnashing of teeth? A pit deep in the center of the earth? A black hole? A realm filled with shades of Greek heroes and the god of the Underworld, Hades? And what about Heaven? What images and phrases flash in your mind?  These places, Heaven and Hell, are important elements of Christian theolog.

On today's episode, I have the honor of talking with Kristen Rudd, a fellow teacher who is an authority on the Classics and teaches various subjects, including Dante's Divine Comedy, which is the topic of our discussion.  Learn the background of Dante's brilliant literary work and the three stages of his travels through the poem, the Inferno (Hell), Purgatorio, and Paradisio (Heaven).  Discover some of the elements of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty in this masterpiece that we can apply to our own lives today.

You can learn more about Kristen by contacting her at:

• kristenrudd.com - her website
• classicalcollegecoach.com - her college coaching

Learn more about Classical Education by contacting:

• Templeton Honors College MAT program - Masters in Teaching in Classical Education
• Circe Apprenticeship program 

Favorite Resources:

• Digital Dante
• 100 Days of Dante FaceBook Group
• Ascent to Love  by Peter Leithart
• The Complete Danteworlds by Guy Rafa
• Anthony Esolen's Inferno
• Anthony Esolen's Purgatorio
• Anthony Esolen's Paradiso
• Five Steps to Successful Narration by Sonya Shafer (free eBook)
• Know and Tell by Karen Glass

“ ….Truth (minds), goodness (wills), and beauty (senses) are the same one reality, which engages various faculties. When we engage reality through the clear abstraction of the intellect, we talk about reality as true. When reality is the target of our will, we pursue it as good. And when reality enthralls not only our minds and wills, but also our senses and feelings, we call it beautiful.  ( John-Mark L. Miravalle, Beauty: What It Is & Why It Matters (Manchester, NH: Sophia Institute Press, 2019), 38.)

"The most common and the monstrous defect in the education of the day is that children fail to acquire the habit of reading. Knowledge is conveyed to them by lessons and talk, but the studious habit of using books as a means of interest and delight is not acquired. This habit should be begun early so soon as the child can read at all, he should read for himself and to himself history, legends, fairy tales, and other suitable matter. He should be trained from the first to think that one reading of any lesson is enough to enable him to narrate what he has read, and will thus get the habit of slow, careful reading, intelligent even when it is silent, because he reads with an eye to the full meaning of every clause."  - Charlotte Mason, Vol. 1: Home Education, p. 227

"Direct questions on the subject-matter of what a child has read are always a mistake. Let him narrate what he has read, or some part of it. He enjoys this sort of consecutive reproduction, but abominates every question in the nature of a riddle. If there must be riddles, let it be his to ask and the teacher’s to direct him to the answer. Questions that lead to a side issue or to a personal view are allowable because these interest children – ‘What would you have done in his place?’” - Charlotte Mason, Vol: 1: Home Education, p. 228-229

“Narrating is an art, like poetry-making or painting, because it is there, in every child’s mind, waiting to be discovered. . .”  - Charlotte Mason, Vol. 1: Home Education, p. 231

"Narration should “touch the emotions, fire the imagination, create mental pictures with its wording, and convey living ideas, not just dry facts” - Sonya Shafer, Five Steps to Successful Narration, p. 15

"A child’s individuality plays about what he enjoys, and the story comes from his lips, not precisely as the author tells it, but with a certain spirit and colouring which express the narrator. By the way, it is very important that children should be allowed to narrate in their own way, and should not be pulled up or helped with words and expressions from the text. A narration should be original as it comes from a child – that is, his own mind should have acted upon the matter it has received. Narrations which are mere feats of memory are quite valueless." - Charlotte Mason, Vol. 1: Home Education, p. 289

"But, it will be said, reading or hearing various books read, chapter by chapter, and then narrating or writing what has been read or some part of it – all this is mere memory work. The value of this criticism may be readily tested; will the critic read before turning off his light a leading article from a newspaper, say, or a chapter from Boswell or Jane Austen, or one of Lamb’s Essays; then, will he put himself to sleep by narrating silently what he has read. He will not be satisfied with the result but he will find that in the act of narrating every power of his mind comes into play, that points and bearings which he had not observed are brought out; that the whole is visualized and brought into relief in an extraordinary way; in fact, that scene or augment has become a part of his personal experience; he knows, he has assimilated what he has read. This is not memory work. In order to memorize, we repeat over and over a passage or a series of points or names with the aid of such clues as we can invent; we do memorize a string of facts or words, and the new possission serves its purpose for a time, but it is not assimilated; its purpose being served, we know it no more. This is memory work by means of which examinations are passed with credit." - Charlotte Mason, Vol. 6: A Philosophy of Education, p. 16-17

“the labour of thought is what his book must induce in the child. He must generalise, classify, infer, judge, visualise, discriminate, labour in one way or another, with that capable mind of his, until the substance of his book is assimilated or rejected, according as he shall determine; for the determination rests with him and not with his teacher.”  - Charlotte Mason, Vol. 3: School Education, p. 179

“Asking direct questions on the content is the best way to squelch your child’s natural curiosity for knowledge. The focus will quickly shift from learning for the joy of learning to Will this be on the test. Don't let that happen.”  - Sonya Shafer, Five Steps to Successful Narration, p. 24

 ". . . give a child a single valuable idea, and you have done more for his education than if you had laid upon his mind the burden of bushels of information . . ." - Charlotte Mason, Volume 1: Home Education, p. 174 

1. Get yourself a copy of The Comedy and start reading a Canto a day and follow up with Kristen's FaceBook group #100 Days of Dante. Narrate what you have read to a friend or family member.
2. Engage in some fan fiction or fan art and take a scene from the poem and write a side story or draw what you imagine is being described.
3. Study the Cardinal Virtues and Theological Virtues and the Seven Deadly Sins and discuss with your child or students how you can cultivate the former and avoid the latter.